China, U.S. Defense Department Fund Chinese-language Education in Washington

From http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2013/04/26/china-dod-both-fund-chinese-language.html

China, U.S. Defense Department fund Chinese-language education in Washington
by Steve Wilhelm
April 26, 2013

The Chinese government and the U.S. Department of Defense, often far apart, are in a sense collaborating on one project: teaching Washington state K-12 students how to speak Mandarin Chinese.

Two key programs funding Chinese language study in Washington public schools are the StarTalk program, under the Department of Defense’s National Security Language Initiative, and the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington, primarily funded by the Office of the Chinese Language Council International, in Beijing.

Washington is the only state that has a statewide Confucius Institute working with public schools, said Michele Anciaux Aoki, who supervises world language education for the Washington state Superintendent of Schools office.

Read the full article at http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2013/04/26/china-dod-both-fund-chinese-language.html